Talk Talk
It's My Life

THE REVIEW

Looking through the reviews on DeBaser, I noticed that there is a lack of a review for a symbolic album of the '80s, namely "It's My Life" by Talk Talk.

The band was composed of singer, guitarist, pianist, and composer Mark Hollis, bassist Paul Webb, drummer Lee Harris, and keyboardist Simon Brenner.

They stood out in the first half of the decade with a couple of albums characterized by genres like synth-pop and new romantic, while later on, already with their third album "The Colour Of Spring" in 1987, they embarked on new paths introducing jazz and classical elements and sounds, reaching the creation of albums totally different from the previous ones, such as "Spirit Of Eden" and "Laughing Stock" (released in 1988 and 1991 respectively), so much so that they are considered by critics as the pioneers of post rock.

Returning to their second work (the follow-up to "The Party's Over" of 1982, which among other things contained singles such as "Talk Talk" and "Today", which introduced them to the general public), this was released in 1984 and was an enormous success, also thanks to the presence of "It's My Life" and "Such A Shame", two singles that became very popular.

The album opens with "Dum Dum Girl", the third single extracted, which begins with Hollis' sweet voice accompanying the listener through bass lines with a funky cadence together with well-defined piano notes. The keyboard interlude in the central part, which enhances the song, is beautiful.

It is followed by "Such A Shame", preceded by a one-minute intro in which a hypnotic rhythm produced by percussion and some echoes is proposed before reaching the beautiful onset of the singer. It has an alternating rhythm, slower in the verses and sustained in the choruses, and in this track too, a keyboard solo is inserted that makes the atmosphere sad and rather evocative: it is undoubtedly a great piece.

"Renèe", even though it is the longest on the album with its six and a half minutes, does not bore the listener but rather involves them. It presents itself as a slow, melancholic, and reflective song where the keyboards in the choruses highlight Hollis' voice.

Thus, we arrive at "It's My Life", perhaps the most representative track of Talk Talk, often covered (by No Doubt, for example) and of great impact. It begins with a base of synthesizers accompanied by layers of keyboards that create a very relaxed atmosphere that then explodes in the chorus, interpreted with great intensity by Mark.

The fifth track, "Tomorrow Started", in my opinion, represents the masterpiece of the album. Simply stunning and moving for all its six minutes, it is also characterized by a slow and melancholic singing that progressively grows to the choruses, sustained with extraordinary expressive intensity.

The next track, "The Last Time" presents a higher rhythm, partially resuming the sounds and tempo of the title track, although it has less impact, but it's not bad.

"Call In The Night Boy" is another decent piece with a lively pace marked by the drums, where an engaging ensemble of synthesizers and keyboards is found.

The penultimate "Does Caroline Know?" is a completely different piece from the previous ones. Introduced and fueled by percussion and funky sounds, it is probably the weakest song of the album.

The ninth and final track "It's You" concludes the work worthily. With a fairly upbeat tempo reminiscent of "The Last Time", it features Hollis interpreting the song with full grit and the keyboards do a great job of accompanying him.

I discovered them about four years ago, finding this album on sale and then being very surprised by its quality-price ratio. A pleasant, engaging, and intense album that I recommend to all lovers of eighties sounds.